Monday, May 29, 2017

GARAGE SALES ON THE LOOSE

My first Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale will be happening on Friday and Saturday, June 16-17, at Stately Isabella Manor, 840 Damon Drive in Medina, Ohio. I’m not 100% sure of the sales times, but I’m leaning towards 9-noon with the possibilities I could add an hour on either end or both, or that I could add evening hours.

I had considered doing garage sales on June 2-3 and 9-10 as well, but put those aside when I started rethinking my priorities for the sales. It’s not outside the realm of possibilities that I’ll hold some sort of advance sale on June 9-10. If things are shaping up well enough, I’ll let you know right here, on my Facebook page, via Twitter and on Craig’s List. If time permits, I’ll advertise them in the local newspaper as well.

About those priorities...

My most pressing VAOS-related need is to reduce the comics boxes in my office, my bedroom and my future reading room. In doing so, I’m also trying to make it easier for Sainted Wife Barb and our kids to deal with the VAOS in the event I commence my career as a vengeful spirit earlier than anticipated.

I’m looking at some recent and really good comic books and saying to myself that, as much as I enjoyed them, I’m not likely to read them again or use them in my work. These comics, including titles like Black Widow, Mickey Mouse, Mother Panic, New Superman, Savage Dragon, Star Wars, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and many others, will be bagged, boarded and put on sale for a dollar each. These comics take up a lot of space, so I expect to be ruthless in delegating titles to the garage sales.

I’ll be equally ruthless with graphic albums and novels, hardcovers and trade paperbacks. These will be priced at approximately 30% of their cover prices. I expect/hope these will move fast because the clutter is getting in the way of my productivity.

New to my garage sales will be collectible Monopoly games. I ended up with well over fifty of these games...and some of them strike me as pretty unusual. They are all factory-sealed. I expect to price these at five and ten dollars each.

There are also some games that won’t be factory-sealed because the plastic has been damaged. I plan to remove the plastic from these games and see if the damage extends to the boxes and interiors of the games. Some might be worth selling. Others will be stripped for their cards, dice, money and pewter figures. I will use as much of the buffalo, I mean, the Monopoly games, as possible.

One of the biggest attractions of my previous garage sales has been boxes and boxes of quarter comics. I’ll still have those, just not as many of them as in years past. Because my priority is reducing what’s already in my house, I don’t expect to be making trips to my secret Fortress of Storage units for restocking. However...

Most of my comic books, magazines, paperbacks, softcover trades and hardcovers from previous garage sales will be priced at a quarter. The faster I sell these items, the faster I can add new items to future sales. I’m serious about making space in my office and in the other rooms of the house where the boxes are multiplying.

This year’s garage sales will also see the return of those popular five-dollar mystery boxes. These contain at least 40 comic books plus books, magazines and cool surprises. I have four ready to go and hope to have eight to twelve for the first garage sales.

A word of warning: these mystery boxes go fast. They usually sell within the first hour of the garage sales. They seldom stay on sale the entire day.

As the sales progress over the summer, new items will be added on a weekly basis. Because I don’t know what’s in many (if not most) of the boxes in my office and elsewhere around the house, I expect to be as surprised by what turns up as my customers.

In addition...

I’m hoping to have a special component to each of my garage sales. These will include cosplay, special guests and even the occasional driveway panel. If you’re an area artist who would like to set up at one of my garage sales, e-mail me and we’ll see what we can work out. My main goals are to make money while reducing the VAOS, but I want to bring some fun to the sales as well.

Here’s the current schedule of my upcoming convention appearances and my garage sales...

Friday, June 16: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, June 17: GARAGE SALE

Friday, June 30: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, July 1: GARAGE SALE

Friday, July 14: G-Fest

Saturday, July 15: G-Fest

Sunday, July 16: G-Fest

Friday, July 28: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, July 29: GARAGE SALE

Friday, August 11: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, August 12: GARAGE SALE

Sunday, August 20: NEO Comic-Con

Friday, August 25: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, August 26: GARAGE SALE

Friday, September 8: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, September 9: GARAGE SALE

Friday, September 22: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, September 23: GARAGE SALE

Friday, October 6: GARAGE SALE

Saturday, October 7: GARAGE SALE

Friday, October 20: Grand Rapids Comic-Con

Saturday, October 21: Grand Rapids Comic-Con

Sunday, October 22: Grand Rapids Comic-Con

Saturday, November 4: Akron Comicon

Sunday, November 5: Akron Comicon

For now, I’m only accepting cash and checks at the conventions and garage sales. I am planning to get a card reader. When I have one up and running, I’ll let you know.

One of the more frequently asked questions:

Do you buy comic books at conventions and your garage sales?

The answer is:

Yes. Sort of.

I’m in the market for good copies of 1000 Comic Books You Must Read and some Isabella-written comic books and magazines. However, since I would buying them for resale, I’m only going to pay a fraction of what they are worth.

If I ever get my want list together, I’ll be in the marker for some issues of titles I kind of sort of collect like The Barker, Career Girl Romances, Candy, Gorgo, Kathy (Marvel), Konga, Lassie (with Jon Provost covers), The Mighty Marvel Western, Nurse Betsy Crane and Western Gunfighters . I’ll pay a little bit more for those.

I might be in the market for good condition comic books to restock my quarter boxes, but I’m not willing to pay much for those. They would be going into the quarter boxes or maybe even mystery boxes. Such purchases would almost certainly raise the ire of Sainted Wife Barb on account of my garage sales are supposed to result in fewer comic books, not more comic books. But I do like to see the happy faces of fans as they pay for towering stacks of cheap comic books. I’m very sentimental that way.

I’ll have more to say about the garage sales as we get a bit closer to them. Keep checking the bloggy and my Facebook page for all the latest news.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the continuation of my 2017 East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention report. See you then.    

© 2017 Tony Isabella

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